Bush/Cheney's 527

[realFedUp]

thanks to http://www.pandagon.net/

http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=1170

July 26, 2002

Bush-Cheney Campaign Violated Soft Money Disclosure Law

Soft Money Fund for Recount Narrowly Escapes $7 Million Fine by Filing Disclosure Statements Hours Before Deadline; Forms Still Not Publicly Available

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The recount fund created by the Bush-Cheney 2000 presidential campaign evaded a soft money campaign finance disclosure law for 18 months and did not file required forms until the last day of an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) "amnesty" program for out-of-compliance groups, Public Citizen has discovered.

The Bush-Cheney 2000, Inc-Recount Fund, a 527 political group created shortly after the November 2000 election to pay for the legal and political activities in Florida and other contested areas, apparently did not file at least four – and perhaps as many as six – required disclosure forms until 3:25 p.m. on July 15, 2002 – meeting the deadline to avoid millions of dollars in potential fines by less than nine hours.

"On its contribution form, the Bush-Cheney recount fund promised full disclosure, but trustees have evaded the soft money law for 18 months and just narrowly escaped nearly $7 million in fines," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. "The 527 disclosure law was designed to shed light on this type of ‘stealth PAC’ but the recount fund trustees flouted that law and didn’t begin to comply until the last possible moment."

Republican National Committee (RNC) official Jim Dyke confirmed to Public Citizen that the recount fund is a 527 group that first filed its statement of organization and contribution and expenditure reports with the IRS just before the amnesty program ended. However, the information has not yet appeared on the IRS Web site, and the IRS has not confirmed to Public Citizen that that the Bush-Cheney recount fund’s contribution and expenditure forms have been filed. IRS spokesman Tim Harms told Public Citizen that if the group submitted its forms by July 15, as the recount fund claims, it would be "in compliance" and would not be subject to fines.

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[realFedUp]

1. I thought this was interesting....